Victoria, BC and Gulf Islands – Day 7 Mount Norman & Disc Golf

Our morning started with a RCMP officer walking around the campground. He stopped to ask if I saw anyone with a fire going the night before. We had seen on fake propane fire. He didn’t seem to have a problem with it. There was a fire ban on but there are different jurisdictions and slightly different rules. I think it was fine under one set of rules and not under the other.

View of Swartz Bay from Mount Norman

We took the morning to climb Mount Norman while it was still cool. It was a fairly short (1.3 km / .8 miles one way) hike but a good elevation gain (244 m / 800 feet). It was steep but the view at the top was well worth it. We did run into some Parks Canada employees and filled out a survey. We pointed out the error on their map. They had a map of what we could see from the look out and had incorrectly labeled North Pender as South. The kids ran the whole way back.

View From Mount Norman

We went back to our campsite for lunch and then went to play disc golf. We are not supposed to call it ‘Frisbee’ Golf as that is trademarked. Disc golf is very much like regular golf. The idea is to get you disc to the pin in as few throws as possible. On this course there are two types of holes. The first and original to the course are stove pipe over a 4×4. Make it go ding and you are in. The second is more official and there is a basket with chains.

Old Style Disc Golf PinIn the holeNew Style Disc Golf Basket Maybe In

We played 18 of the 27 holes. I got on birdie and parred a couple but overall I was way over. I played a lot when I was younger and lived on the island. The course changed about six years ago eliminating my favorite hole. I think they needed to change it up to keep it challenging. Plus back then there were only 18 holes.

Margaret ThrowingPhilip Throwing

Philip was pretty good at it and Ian was better than Margaret. Margaret never managed to get any power behind her throws. I think she could with more practice. As you can see some people throw with enough power to chip the trees. Most of the trees are just fine. This one I am not sure if it was already dead and that meant it didn’t heal or the repeated hits with discs killed it. No idea.